YPG Says “No Intention to Fight” Syrian Gov’t Troops

A representative of the Kurdish self-defense units, Nuri Mahmoud said the YPG forces have no intention of attacking government forces.

Mahmoud remarks were during an interview with Sputnik about the relationship of the Kurdish forces with the Syrian government troops and the United States.

Mahmoud stressed that in the rural areas of Deir ez-Zor province, clashes occur from time to time between government forces and the YPG units, but the Kurdish forces “have no intention of attacking government forces.”

Talking about the cooperation of the Kurdish forces with the United States, Mahmoud said:

“The purpose of our alliance with the United States is to jointly fight against ISIL (referred to Daesh in Arabic), we have no other purpose in mind. We have no intention of fighting the Syrian government or anyone else. We want everyone to live freely and peacefully, we want an early resolution of the Syrian conflict within a united Syria. Our actions are always based on the principle of defense, not attack. Our forces fought against ISIL, because the group would never enter a dialogue, and it rejects the idea of a democratic settlement.”

“We are fighting for the stability of Syria. A large number of people from all across Syria are moving to the territories that we liberated from ISIL. We have freed and control 40 percent of the Syrian territory to date,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mahmoud denied allegations that ISIL militants joined the ranks of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

“We are the force that is continuously fighting against ISIL. Those who claim the opposite, want to simply distort reality. YPG and YPJ [women’s units of the YPG] units are the only ones that defended Kobani from ISIL. The whole world knows about our fight against ISIL,” he concluded.

Turkey’s started its so-called “Olive Branch” offensive in Syrian Kurdish-dominated city of Afrin, on January 20. As Ankara had repeatedly emphasized, the offensive was aimed at protecting the Turkish border with Syria from the terrorist presence, referring to Kurdish formations in the region: YPG and the PYD, linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara.